The last bits of frankfurter roll have been thrown to the scavenging seagulls. The announcement has been made and the thrumming of the engine has stopped. The bump indicates that you’ve reached the dock and the steamship folks are doing their waving dance, getting the tightly packed vehicles rapidly off the ferry. Welcome to the community of Vineyard Haven in the town of Tisbury, the island’s “capital” and the point of entry for most people.
Known in the seventeenth century as Holmes Hole, the bustling down-island spot usually doesn’t get so much as a nod from most travelers bound for their homes or hotels, but sooner or later many will return to pick up groceries at Cronig’s, have brunch at Zephrus, or wander down Main Street and buy a book at Bunch of Grapes. The cognoscenti will make a hamburger at Woodland Variety & Grill their mission, while those in search of a more refined ambience will enjoy the water views at Tropical, or the street scene outside the window of Café Moxie.
Vineyard Haven is also home of The Black Dog Tavern, a local eatery whose black Labrador–logo items have become, for many, totemic symbols of the island. The tavern has been around since 1971, an amazing feat in a place where restaurants come and go with the frequency of summer visitors. As such, it has become the stuff of many an island culinary dream. An off-season meal at a table by the fireplace in the main dining room means winter to most residents. Long-term summer folks and day-trippers alike wait in line to sit by the sea and savor one of the kitchen’s special chowders. Although the original mascot went to canine heaven long ago, a local black Labrador is almost always snoozing peacefully nearby, or posing obligingly for photos that are more treasured as souvenirs than the ubiquitous T-shirts.